RAM: pc3200 to pc2700?

[Logik]

Ok here is the thing.
I got inspiron 9100 laptop with 2 chips of 256 mb DDR 400Mhz Pc3200 200 pin ram.

now i want to upgrade RAM to 2gb (max the board can support)

i searched the local market & was manager to locate 2 1gb chips of DDR 333Mhz Pc2700 ram. I know a lot of hardware is backward compatible, but i am note sure if it can work with this laptop.

So, will these pc2700 333mhz chips work for my laptop?
if yes, how much performance wise degrade will be there.

Here is speccy log of my Lappy

Operating System
MS Windows XP Professional 32-bit SP3
CPU
Intel Pentium 4
Intel Pentium 4
Prescott 90nm Technology
RAM
512MB Dual-Channel DDR @ 199MHz (3-3-3-8)
Motherboard
Dell Inc. 0W1450 (Microprocessor) 68 °C
Graphics
Default Monitor (1280x800@60Hz)
64MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700 (Dell)
Hard Drives
59GB SAMSUNG SAMSUNG MP0603H (PATA) 43 °C
Optical Drives
Optiarc DVD RW AD-7580A
ELBY CLONEDRIVE SCSI CdRom Device
Audio
SigmaTel C-Major Audio

Logik

[Raymond]

No matter what the 2GB of 333MHz RAM will be faster than 512MB 400MHz.
As for compatibility, I can't say for sure but you can try it out and negotiate with the manager that if it cannot be used you won't have to pay for it.

[hal9000]

If you search the Dell site for 'Inspiron 9100 memory' it actually comes up with a 1GB stick of 333Mhz RAM so it looks as if your RAM will do fine. Be aware that GEIL RAM seems to have issues according to the Dell forums. If you're buying the RAM in person from a shop then perhaps you could take the laptop and try the RAM while instore?

In terms of speed, you'll notice going from 256MB to 2GB at lot more than going from 400Mhz to 333Mhz. Don't forget that if you're not doing anything more serious than using the web or writing docs etc, 1GB would be plenty enough for XP. More serious work and/or gaming and 2GB is the right choice.

[Logik]

thanks ray & hal,
I got one dealer who promised to give me pc3200. lets see how things goes. Dealer is offering me transcend. i hope there are no issues for transcend with Dell.

BTW, i am gonna use this laptop for automated trading in forex. i got my own system ready. all the real time calculations are done in MS SQL 2008. so 2 gb is kind of "barely enough". ms sql is a real memory hog

[A Guy]

It will likely work ok, the speed will be less, but more ram is always a good thing. Got to Crucial and run the Memory Advisor

http://www.crucial.com/

A Guy

[Raymond]

Hmm calculation. That should involve CPU usage as well.
If its still slow after upgrading the RAM, you will have to check the CPU usage from Windows Task Manager.

[Logik]

yeah ray,
its p4 CPU with hyper threading feature with operating frequency 3.0 ghz.
its pretty much like the dual core early version.

thanks for the note though.

BTW, here are the speccy details in depth

CPU
Intel Pentium 4
Cores 1
Threads 2
Name Intel Pentium 4
Code Name Prescott
Package Socket 478 mPGA
Technology 90nm
Specification Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz
Family F
Extended Family F
Model 3
Extended Model 3
Stepping 4
Revision D0
Instructions MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
Virtualization Unsupported
Hyperthreading Supported, Enabled
Bus Speed 199.5 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 798.1 MHz
Stock Core Speed 3000 MHz
Stock Bus Speed 200 MHz
Caches
L1 Data Cache Size 16 KBytes
L1 trace cache 12 Kuops
L2 Unified Cache Size 1024 KBytes
Core 0
Core Speed 2992.7 MHz
Multiplier x 15.0
Bus Speed 199.5 MHz
Rated Bus Speed 798.1 MHz
Thread 1
APIC ID 0
Thread 2
APIC ID 1

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RAM
Memory slots
Total memory slots 2
Used memory slots 2
Free memory slots 0
Memory
Type DDR
Size 512 MBytes
Channels # Dual
DRAM Frequency 199.5 MHz
CAS# Latency (CL) 3 clocks
RAS# to CAS# Delay (tRCD) 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 3 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 8 clocks
Physical Memory
Memory Usage 57 %
Total Physical 511 MB
Available Physical 210 MB
Total Virtual 1.99 GB
Available Virtual 1.90 GB
SPD
Number Of SPD Modules 2
Slot #1
Type DDR
Size 256 MBytes
Manufacturer Hyundai Electronics
Max Bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz)
Part Number HYMD232M646D6-D43
Serial Number 1C1CB111
Week/year 104 / 39
SPD Ext. EPP
JEDEC #3
Frequency 200.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 3.0
RAS# To CAS# 3
RAS# Precharge 3
tRAS 8
Voltage 2.500 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 166.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 2.5
RAS# To CAS# 3
RAS# Precharge 3
tRAS 7
Voltage 2.500 V
JEDEC #1
Frequency 133.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 2.0
RAS# To CAS# 2
RAS# Precharge 2
tRAS 6
Voltage 2.500 V
Slot #2
Type DDR
Size 256 MBytes
Manufacturer Hyundai Electronics
Max Bandwidth PC3200 (200 MHz)
Part Number HYMD232M646D6-D43
Serial Number 1C1CB12A
Week/year 104 / 39
SPD Ext. EPP
JEDEC #3
Frequency 200.0 MHz
CAS# Latency 3.0
RAS# To CAS# 3
RAS# Precharge 3
tRAS 8
Voltage 2.500 V
JEDEC #2
Frequency 166.7 MHz
CAS# Latency 2.5
RAS# To CAS# 3
RAS# Precharge 3
tRAS 7
Voltage 2.500 V
JEDEC #1
Frequency 133.3 MHz
CAS# Latency 2.0
RAS# To CAS# 2
RAS# Precharge 2
tRAS 6
Voltage 2.500 V
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Motherboard
Manufacturer Dell Inc.
Model 0W1450
Chipset Vendor Intel
Chipset Model i865P/PE/G/i848P
Chipset Revision A2
Southbridge Vendor Intel
Southbridge Model 82801EB (ICH5)
Southbridge Revision 02
System Temperature 68 °C
BIOS
Brand Dell Inc.
Version A06
Date 03/08/2005
PCI Data
1. PCI Available
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Graphics
Monitor
Name Default Monitor on ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700
Current Resolution 1280x800 pixels
Work Resolution 1280x768 pixels
State enabled, primary
Monitor Width 1280
Monitor Height 800
Monitor BPP 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Frequency 60 Hz
Device \\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0
ATI MOBILITY RADEON 9700
GPU M10/M11
Device ID 1002-4E50
Subvendor Dell (1028)
Current Performance Level Level 1
Technology 110 nm
Transistors 75 M
Release Date 2003
DirectX Support 9.0
DirectX Shader Model 2.0
OpenGL Support 2.0
Bios Core Clock 398.00
Bios Mem Clock 263.00
Driver ati2mtag.sys
Driver version 6.14.10.6396
BIOS Version BK-ATI VER008.016M.077.015
ROPs 4
Shaders Vertex 4/Pixel 4
Memory Type DDR
Memory 64 MB
Count of performance levels : 1
Level 0